Thursday, September 16, 2021

CINEMATIC HOLY MOMENTS: 2018

by Toby

[re-upload from the now defunct wanderingimage tumblr January 2019] 
my personal favorite moments from films to receive a 2018 U.S. release. Not all of which made my actual “Best Films of 2018” list, but at least had incredible segments that stayed with me since first viewing. Scenes that I’m sure I’ll want to re-visit again and again.

+ = was actually featured on Toby's 2018 "Best of"
The train robbery sequence on Vandor-1!
Idk if Ron Howard or Phil Lord and Chris Miller are responsible for directing this scene but props to whoever did it + VFX guru Dominic Tuohy. As a whole the film isn’t great like last year's thematically rich LAST JEDI (2017), but set pieces like this made it a worthwhile adventure film -
SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY  
           (Howard/Lord/Miller)
Ally singing "La Vie En Rose" at the night club. I know the “Shallow” performance is the more obvious selling point for this movie, but this moment felt even more special and intimate to me. Even a total souse could recognize Ally’s talent from this little number
  - A STAR IS BORN 
                (Bradley Cooper)

the Spaniards get ambushed by stealth natives
      - ZAMA (Martel)
+
The melancholy stillness of the surface of the Moon.. Neil’s crater visit, etc. 
   - FIRST MAN (Chazelle)
+
Exploring Kubrick’s THE SHINING (1980) for clues! A surreal meta moment that tonally felt more like Joe Dante territory than Spielberg
- READY PLAYER ONE 
                 [IMAX 3D] (Spielberg)
+
The painful "voodoo doll" dance sequence. For me, this inspired bit and the gore galore climax made this re-imagining worthy of the 1977 masterwork's namesake
    - SUSPIRIA [remake]  
                    (Guadagnino)
Final 40 mins of wall-to-wall bloody violence. Easily on a par with the Floor 8 rampage from THE RAID
- THE NIGHT COMES FOR US 
                       (Tjahjanto)
+
Going into labor at the worst possible moment (holy schnikes!). I really feel like Krasinski has devised some of the most suspenseful apocalyptic moments since Hitchcock’s THE BIRDS (1963) with this one 
- A QUIET PLACE (Krasinski)
+
That mutant bear comes snooping around.. Makes my skin crawl just remembering the crying sound the creature makes 
 - ANNIHILATION (Garland)
+
The casino fight that becomes a street chase in Busan! Hats off to Coogler for one-upping the already bad-ass TERMINATOR-esque chase from CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016). Okoye car surfing in that vibrant costume is already one of the greatest action movie images to ever grace movies
 - BLACK PANTHER (Coogler)
+
Mandy's bad "wasp acid" trip. Riseborough’s maniacal laughing in that guy’s face is a thing of beauty
      - MANDY (Cosmatos)
+
Daniel's monologue about jail time. In a film full to the brim w/powerful moments, I thought this one was the most affecting -
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK 
                                (Barry Jenkins)
+
The helicopter pursuit through the mountains.. Seeing that entire climax @ IMAX was exhilirating & glorious
- MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 
    FALLOUT [IMAX] (McQuarrie) 
The drowning at the beach. A big technically precise dolly track onesie worthy of a Tarkovsky film
      - ROMA (Cuaron) 
+
Out of body experience. Drifting visions during Toller and Mary’s transcendental meditation 
- FIRST REFORMED (Schrader)
+
Kiere finally finds his Father's grave. Disclaimer: scene made me ugly sob 
- MINDING THE GAP (Bing Liu)
+ 
Jack Jack VS. that raccoon!!.. Visually funny and inspired slapstick
 - INCREDIBLES 2 (Bird) 
+
The slow "Too Late to Turn Back Now” singing & dancing in the club.. The most quietly emotional use of music in a Spike Lee joint since Denzel floated across the pavement to “Change is Gonna Come” in MALCOLM X
   - BLACKKKLANSMAN 
                      (Spike Lee)
+
Nobuyo's tearful confession during police interrogation. Koreeda (NOBODY KNOWS) has a talent for devising emotional scenes that feel like a knife to the heart 
     - SHOPLIFTERS 
               (Hirokazu Koreeda)
+
Hae-mi's jazz dance silhouette at sunset. A hypnotic and graceful moment in an otherwise deeply troubling movie
   - BURNING (Chang-dong Lee)
+
The entire lighthouse ending. 
All 22 final other-worldly minutes of the film. Offering little to no voice-over exposition there was a stroke of genius. My movie buddy and I spent the last half of this movie with our jaws on the floor 
 - ANNIHILATION (Garland)
+

Also this moment when Drax thought he was invisible;

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Toby’s Favorite Movie Moments
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